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The Ashland County Land and Conservation Committee will be holding a public hearing from 5 PM – 7 PM Tuesday, June 12 at the Land and Water Conservation Department office at 315 Sanborn Ave, # 100, Ashland, WI 54806.

The purpose of the public hearing is to distribute information and to hear comments regarding the two agricultural ordinances proposed for Ashland County. The ordinances have been developed by the Land Conservation Committee with the assistance of the Ashland County Agricultural Ordinance Advisory Group.

Once they pass out of committee they will be sent to the full Board to vote on.

Please come and speak up in support of these new ordinances. Show Ashland County we are standing united in defense of the water.

For more information, County District 12 Ashland County Supervisor Joe Rose, Sr. at 715.292.7225

UPDATE: The Water Privatization Bills (AB 554 and SB 432) have moved out of committee and will be headed for a full vote in the Assembly and the Senate. Contact your Senator and Representative and tell them to vote NO! NO MORE FLINTS!

Now, today, a bill is rapidly moving through the Wisconsin legislature that would make it nearly impossible for We the People to stop the privatization of our water.

Assembly Bill 554 which will create the same privatization of Wisconsin water supplies that led to the Flint disaster, has passed the State Assembly and is in the Senate Workforce Development Committee. That committee is made up of 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats, and is poised to pass their version of this legislation, Senate Bill 432.

Some backstory: in 2009, the City of Milwaukee was exploring the possibility of privatizing its municipal water. Here is a contemporary Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal article about it, and a later story from Food and Water Watch after the idea was scuttled. Basically, local residents rose up against the proposal and fought it; the Milwaukee Common Council stopped its study of the proposal.

The current legislation would make it nearly impossible to do what the citizens of Milwaukee did in 2009. Rather than being able to stop privatization while it is still an “idea,” citizens would need to collect signatures and put a referendum on the ballot to stop the process in-progress: time-consuming, expensive, and subject to the special interest money bound up in today’s elections.

According to an aide at the office of Rep. Tyler August(R-Lake Geneva), the proposal’s lead author, another aspect of the bill will allow private entities to “buy into” county-owned water supplies, thereby gaining control over area water. For example, a corporate farm could purchase water rights from the county and gain control over how the local water is used.

Please pass this on to as many people as you can and tell them to contact the members of the Workforce Development Committee and express their opposition to SB432.

This weekend the Overpass Light Brigade did a photo shoot to raise awareness about the proposed legislation and asked the public to contact the members of the Workforce Development Committee to inform them of citizen opposition to the bill.

By 2016, a pipeline called Line 61 will carry 50 million gallons of oil per day under the upper St. Croix River and its tributaries the Eau Claire, Totogatic and the Namekagon Rivers.

Line 61 carries heavy crude oil from Canada. It is so thick it requires dilution with other chemicals and high temperatures to flow, and it can sink in water. The pipeline was constructed in 2006-2007 with little environmental review or citizen input, and only for 400,000 gallons per day. The current expansion has received almost no public scrutiny.

Thursday, May 14th at 7 p.m.

Spooner High School auditorium

801 County Hwy A

Spooner, WI 54801

Speakers will discuss the resources at risk, spill prevention and response, policy and regulations, and efforts elsewhere in Wisconsin to ensure pipeline safety. Enbridge Energy will be represented, as well as river advocates and others involved in the issue. The program will include plenty of time dedicated to questions and discussion.

PLEASE JOIN US in standing UNITED IN DEFENSE OF THE WATER. Add your email to the growing coalition of concerned citizens who are taking action to protect Lake Superior and all the waters of Wisconsin and the world.